Eyjafjallajökull
Case Study

About the Volcano...
• Eyjafjallajökull is the name of the glacier
that sits on top of the volcano, meaning
“Island Mountain Glacier”.
• The volcano is actually called Eyjafjoll.
• The caldera at the top of the volcano is
2.5km wide.
• The volcano is 1,666m tall.

Location...
• The volcano is on the island of Iceland, which is
part of Europe and situated immediately South
of the Arctic Circle.
• Iceland is located on the North American plate
(Moving West) and the Eurasian plate (Moving
East), creating a divergent plate boundary
which move apart at 1-5cm every year.
• The famous Mid-Atlantic Ridge runs through
the island.

The Eruption...
• The volcano began to erupt on the 20th of March, and
the main eruption occurred on the 19th of April.
• It was a fissure eruption, with the lava flow more
dominant on the West side but also on the East.
• An ash plume rising 11,000m into the air resulted
from the eruption.
• The ash was fine grained, with 24% of it under
10µm which is the same as an aerosol.
• The ash was distributed by high velocity jet streams
above Iceland.

Local Icelandic Effects...
• The 150m thick ice cap melted which caused major
flooding to Iceland and 700 people were evacuated.
• It destroyed parts of the main Route 1 road. Other
roads were bulldozed to allow the flash flood water
to reach the sea.
• Fine ash silted the rivers caused blockages a year on.
• The government paid to dredge rivers or allow them
to flood and create a new path.
• 20 farms were destroyed by the flooding and the
ash.

Worldwide Effects...
• The fine grain ash posed a problem to
airplanes as it can enter engines or turn into
a glassy substance due to the heat of the jet
engine.
• Britain had fine anticyclonic weather when
the ash cloud existed meaning that winds
dispersed the ash clouds better.

Secondary Worldwide Effects...
• Airspace closed across Europe, with at least 17,000
flights a day being cancelled, with 6 flightless days.
Overall 95,000 flights were cancelled.
• This cost airlines more than $200 million a day and
was estimated that $2 billion was lost overall.
• Shares in Air Travel and Tourism Agencies dropped
by 4%. Less fuel was needed and so 1.87million
barrels were not in demand causing a loss of money
in the oil industry.
• It was estimated that London lost £102 million of
tourist income which caused a knock on effect for
workers travelling and businesses.

Management...
• Iceland was prepared for this eruption because
the first small eruption occurred on the 20th
March and they were prepared for larger
eruptions.
• High tech equipment was used to predict the
further eruptions.
• Iceland had a good warning system with texts
being sent to residents with a 30 minute
warning.
• The emergency services were well prepared.